Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring: From Eeyou Istchee to a National Public Health Journal

What began as a response to the unprecedented 2023 wildfire season in Eeyou Istchee is now being shared with a national public health audience.  
Members and partners of the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (CBHSSJB) have published an evaluation of the Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring Report in the Canada Communicable Disease Report. 

Developed by the CBHSSJB Environmental Health Team in 2024, the daily report brings together information on smoke, fire, air quality, and heat to help support timely public health and emergency response across Eeyou Istchee. 
The evaluation found that recipients valued the report as a useful and reassuring source of information. Their feedback also identified ways to make it even more effective, including more visuals, plainer language and information that better reflects the realities of people living and travelling throughout Eeyou Istchee. 
 
The findings are already helping improve the report for future wildfire seasons and may offer useful lessons for other Indigenous organizations developing their own environmental monitoring approaches.